I'm not convinced

My Mum was so ill at this point but still happy to drink a
green juice to make me feel better.

This has been the toughest week so far for my Mum. Last Friday was her 4th chemo session and for the last 3 sessions (including the one she has just had) the strength of the drugs will increase.

I'm not sure if I've vocalised on the blog before that I'm not convinced chemo is always the way to go but I'm not and this week has only strengthened this opinion.

My Mum has been in intense pain since Sunday (today is Friday). All day and all night she has lived with a severe aching/pain in ALL her muscles. She has been too weak to move but also in too much pain to stay still. She has felt sick, not eaten, not slept, has a sore mouth, throat, head, ears, feet... She has had no respite and as I've mentioned before, when everyone else is sleeping she is still wide awake dealing with the pain - alone.

On Thursday (yesterday) the pain got too much and so she went to her doctors for help. They left her waiting for 30 minutes and she was in such a state in the waiting room she had to leave because she quite literally couldn't take it any more. I'm gutted that I was at a meeting in Brighton and so not around to help but also a little relieved. Firstly because I really hate seeing my Mum in so much pain and secondly because I would have seriously kicked some doctors / receptionist butt. I completely understand that they are busy and there are lots of sick people that need to be seen but when a patient who has cancer, is battling through chemo and is writhing around the waiting room in pain then SURELY someone could have done SOMETHING?

My Mum decided to Leighton Hospital A&E instead to see if they could help and luckily they were amazing. As soon as they saw the state of her they put her in a wheelchair and took her off for blood tests and more importantly they gave her pain relief in the form of liquid Morphine. My Mum called me at this point and although I couldn't hear properly I managed to make out 'Flying' and 'amazing'. Apparently it relieved her of all her pain starting from her feet upwards and for the first time in nearly a week she felt half normal... not that she really knows what normal feels like anymore.

The blood tests revealed she had a fungal infection in her throat and a viral infection which gives out flu like symptoms. Anyone who has had real flu will know how bad the intense aching feels. Try imagining that on top of the type of aching and pain you get from chemo... you probably can't as it would be too much to bare but this is what my Mum went through.

I mention that I'm not convinced about the chemo because it's why my Mum is going through all this. Without the chemo right now my Mum would be pain free. To all intents and purposes she would also be cancer free. The scans she had after the mastectomy were pretty much clean with no extra tumors. The chemo is given as a precautionary measure just in case there is any cancer cells that are too small to detect BUT... there may not be any cells in the first place AND there is ONLY a 10% chance that it will even help. To help us understand this, the doctor explained it like this -'if there are 100 women who go through this chemo, 10 of them will survive/ be clear of cancer because of it. The other 90 may still survive but it will not be because of the chemo... they will have been okay anyway.

'What the crap' were my thoughts when hearing this and I really thought at the time that it may not be worth it but I completely understand why my Mum agreed  - because she wanted to de everything she can to save her life and survive this cancer and I am grateful of that.

Hopefully once she is over the chemo she will still feel the same and work hard to change her diet and carry on with the juicing so she will never have to go through this again.

Only 2 more sessions to go...

30 day green juice challenge

For all anyone who fancies taking up juicing, is lagging on the juicing or looking for help to get or stay on track then the 30 day green juice challenge could help?

Matt and I are still juicing every single day - we have one for our breakfast and once for lunch then a vegan dinner. We're finding though that we're sometimes sticking to the sweeter ones and probably having too much juiced fruit which is high in sugar... this is why we are doing the 30 day green juice challenge. It has a weekly shopping list and daily recipe for a green juice which makes everything much easier as you don't have to put much thought into it... just do it! We're loving it so far.

Here's the shopping list for week 1:

1 Pineapple2-3 Bunches of Kale (appox 20 Leaves)

4 Cucumbers

1 Jalapeno

3 Bunches of Spinach

1 Head of Celery

1 Lemon

7 Fuji Apples

3 Granny Smith Apples

1 Orange

1 Package of Mint

1 Bunch of Swiss Chard

1 head or small package of romaine lettuce

1 bunch of coriander

1 lime

 

And the recipes:

 

1.  Wednesday - Pineapple Jalapeno
2 Cups Pineapple
5 kale Leaves
1 Cucumber
½ - 1 Jalapeno (use ½ a jalapeno if you don't want it to spicy

 

 2.  Thursday - Simply Green
5 Handfuls of Spinach
3 Kale Leaves
3 Celery Stalks
½ Cucumber
½ Lemon
2 Fuji Apples 

 

3.  Friday - Green Detox
½ Head of Romaine
1 Handful of Spinach
2 Kale Leaves
10 Sprigs of coriander
2 Apples (Fuji or Granny Smith)
½ Lime

 

 4.  Saturday - Pineapple Kale Cucumber
1 Cucumber
1 Granny Smith Apple (Green)
½ Cup of Pineapple
4 Kale Leaves
3 Swiss Chard Leaves 

 

5.  Sunday - Green Citrus
1 Orange

½ Cucumber

3 Celery Stalks
½ Lemon
1 Fuji Apple

 

6.  Monday - Pineapple Mint
2 Handfuls of Spinach
4 Kale Leaves
1 Cup Pineapple
1 Small Handful of Mint Leaves
2 Granny Smith Apples (Green)

 

7.  Tuesday - The Green Juice
2 Celery Stalks
½ Cucumber
3 Swiss Chard Leaves
2 Kale Leaves
1-2 Apples

Nutritional Facts:

Kale: Kale is a member of the cruciferous/cabbage family. It is a green leafy vegetable and a great source of carotenes, vitamins B6, B1, B2, E, and maganese, dietary fibre, and minerals like copper, calcium, and iron. High in anticancer properties and a good preventer of osteoporosis due to its calcium to phosphorus ratio.

Pineapple:
Pineapple is a good source of vitamin C, manganese, vitamins B1 and B6, copper, magnesium, and dietary fibre. Its health benefits include: digestion aid, inflammation reduction, mucus elimination, and energy booster. Pineapple is a great food to consume to help with pneumonia, bronchitis, sinusitis, sore throat, gout, arthritis, and recovery from injuries and surgery.

Spinach:
Spinach is in the same family as beets and chard and is a green leafy vegetable. It is low in calories and very nutrient-dense, with a high content of Vitamin K, carotenes, Vitamin C, folic acid, manganese, magnesium, iron, vitamins B2, B6, E, and B1. Spinach is not only one of the best sources of iron, more so than other greens, but it is also one of the most alkalizing foods that helps regulate body pH. Spinach is also great for eye health and as an anticancer protector. It has been used in many studies to successfully suggest that consumption of spinach reduces incidence of cancer.

Mint:
Mint is effective as a digestive aid, can help reduce spasms in the GI tract, prevents against cancer, and also helps relieve hay fever

Apples:
Apples contain high levels of vitamin C, fibre, potassium, and flavonoids. Apples have been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease, cancer, asthma, and diabetes, due in part to its flavonoids, fibre, and pectin, all of which increase bowel regularity and can help with both constipation and diarrhoea.

Here's the website for more info: http://www.greenjuiceaday.com/

 

Enjoy! xx

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3 down, 3 to go.

Last Friday I took my Mum for her third chemo treatment at The Christie. She's having 6 sessions altogether and so it was the half way point. We actually had a lovely day - the sun was shining and we had a picnic lunch outside. We also didn't have to wait too long for the treatment so we were in and out in 4 hours - a doddle when you consider some people can be waiting around there for 7 - 8 hours.

Having the chemo is the easiest bit to be fair -  it's what comes after which totally sucks. The steroids keep my Mum on a bit of a high for the first two days so Saturday and Sunday aren't too bad - it's the next 3 -4 days which are really hard. The steroids wear off and in comes the intense fatigue and aching muscles. I think if you've not experienced it, it's hard to imagine but watching my Mum, every little thing is a huge effort - from opening her eyes, to talking and even lifting her hand to scratch her nose. Aside from the pain, there is an emotional/hormonal black cloud which descends as well as the loneliness. Mum has lots of people round her trying to help but she hasn't slept much at night since this all started and everyone else is sleeping as they need to get up early so during this time she is left alone with the pain and her thoughts... then obviously everyone gets up in the morning and goes off to work and she is still alone.

I've been extremely lucky and feel very fortunate to have Matt and a great team at Warble who have really eased the pressure at work which has allowed me to have time off in the days with my Mum but still, she has to spend a lot of time fending for herself.

Whilst she remains a tower of strength and positivity, it's really hard to always keep it up when it's so constant. Although the intense fatigue wears after the first week, it still leaves her feeling really tired and groggy for the next two before she starts all over again. It's not just the fatigue either -I won't go in to too much detail here but the chemo can really mess with your... shall we call it disposal system, to the point where my Mum is in absolute agony and screaming in pain.

I don't want this post to be too morbid, I just want to try as best I can to give a real account of what it's like to go through chemo and hopefully to make people think a little more about Cancer, what causes it and what they can do to stop it happening to them.

I took my Mum to Queens park on Thursday for a picnic in the sun to cheer her up after a horrid few days of being stuck in bed or on the sofa. I'm pleased to say it worked and she was so happy she even hugged a tree! :o) While we were there we chatted about getting cancer and preventing cancer etc and she admitted that even though we have a family history of cancer and breast cancer in particular she thought that because she knew someone down the road that went through it recently that she thought the odds were that it wouldn't happen to her. It sounds silly but it actually makes sense and I can understand her thinking.

The truth is 1 in 3 people will get cancer - so if you have 3 or more people living in your house as it stands one of you will get it. On the radio today it stated that by 2020 47% of the UK population will get cancer. This is crazy and scared me a lot. Although to be fair - seeing what my Mum is going through has already scared the crap out of me. I am terrified, which is why I am doing everything I can to make the necessary changes to my diet and lifestyle as this is one of the biggest factors of causing cancer.

The biggest changes we've made so far is definitely the juicing - we're still on a minimum of two juices a day and really feeling the positive effects in our body, skin and energy... and also mind. We're also 95% vegan. All of our meals at home are vegan, the only time we tend to slip up is when we eat out. We're also drinking much less alcohol and exercising more and we feel brilliant because of it.

I love the fact a lot of our family and friends have bought juicers and are thinking a little bit more about what they eat and how it effects them.

I also love my Mum so I will carry on doing everything I can to help her through this crappy time, make her as happy as possible and make sure she is healthy so she never has to go through anything like this again.

Whilst we're on the subject, something else I love is my life - I really appreciate everything I have and all the people in it and so I would like to make it last as long as possible... x